Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert

Is Isabelle Huppert the greatest actress alive? Maybe yes, even if out there there’s someone named Meryl Streep. Lady Oscars is the goddess of Hollywood, Madame Huppert is the muse of European authors since 45 years. She started in 1972, she was only 19, but it was clear that a star was born. It was clear for Claude Sautet, Bertrand Blier, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Bertrand Tavernier. Michael Cimino wanted her badly for his masterpiece Heaven’s Gate, he was in Piazza Grande in 2015 to receive his well deserved Pardo d’onore and last year she came to give due homage to the memory of the great master that once also directed Meryl Streep.

After the 2011 Excellence Award Moët & Chandon, it was about time for Madame Huppert to win the Pardo d’oro as best actress and her Madame Hyde is the perfect role to add another award to her outstanding career. It’s been a great season for her, starting with last year’s Cannes Film Festival and her extraordinary performance in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, a beautiful movie that gave her her first Golden Globe and Oscar nomination. Quite incredible, but there’s still time to increase the loot, because Isabelle Huppert is at her best, she’s never been that natural and confident, even more than Meryl. It’s not a race, but it is funny to play this game and it’s such a pleasure. While writing these words, remember the beautiful movies she made with Claude Chabrol (she won twice in Venice and one time in Cannes thanks to him), her fantastic collaboration with Michael Haneke, and her voice in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. This year’s Pardo for Best Actress honors not only one of the greatest ever, but also cinema itself.